2025 Legislative Priorities
Economic Development
The availability of competitive, straightforward, and flexible economic development and workforce training assistance is vital to the State of Kansas. We support legislation that preserves and enhances existing programs and credit; re-establishes State Venture Capital Fund and retains Home Rule and Local Control of Financing; and continued STAR Bonds funding.
We believe a vibrant research community is critical, with support for policies that promote commercialization of programs at all Regents’ research institutions. We also emphasize continued support of the Department of Commerce, to ensure abundant resources and staffing to compete globally for investment and job growth. We also support tax incentives to attract film or television production to our State, and ongoing state investments in transformational regional events, including funding for 2026 World Cup operations and basecamps.
Education, Workforce and Childcare
The Chamber recognizes that the availability and readiness of a trained and competent workforce is the number one economic issue across the State. We support the following: workforce development through new legislation for pilot programs in Youth Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship; maximizing Child Care Assistance Tax Credits and elevating wages for child care professionals; further collaboration in workforce training among all relevant stakeholders (K-12, higher education, technical educators, community colleges, the business community, others). We support full funding of Board of Regents’ Research Institution research programming requests. We also support compliance with the Kansas Supreme Court ruling on public school funding and fully funding special education as required by state law. The Chamber opposes public tax funds to subsidize private education, and tax credits for contributions to organizations, funds or programs that subsidize private school tuition.
Taxation
Kansas must have a balanced and diversified, three-legged tax structure that is fiscally responsible, provides the services and amenities important to businesses and workforce growth and retention, and fosters a competitive, pro-growth business environment. The Chamber promotes a business-friendly state tax policy, particularly for small businesses, and opposes sales tax on professional services.
Transportation, Infrastructure and Housing
The Chamber strongly encourages planning for future infrastructure needs, including transportation, water sewer, tech and more. We support several initiatives including accelerating broadband penetration and promoting investment in broadband infrastructure; expanding K-10 between Lawrence and I-435 by adding lanes; and consideration of additional interchanges to capitalize on Panasonic and other opportunities. This also includes creating innovative incentives to spur development of housing of all kinds and extending the KERA program for emergency rentals; ending this program will exacerbate County’s housing crisis. Additionally, investment in the Lawrence Regional Airport through Kansas Airport Improvement Program will improve the safety of this transportation infrastructure and expand economic impact.
Health Care and Behavioral Health Initiatives
The Chamber believes that access to health care is essential to a productive and efficient workforce and a top consideration in locating and operating a business. We support expanding Medicaid to close the coverage gap for working Kansans, as well as adoption of policies that appropriately address mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse; and strategies and solutions to help control costs, improve outcomes, expand access, create a culture of wellness in the workplace, and ensure services to the uninsured and underinsured, two groups of Kansans on the rise.
Energy and Environment
As technology and innovation change the energy sector, businesses have new opportunities to lower their energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint. The Chamber supports development and implementation of a comprehensive, long-term state energy plan that responsibly addresses current issues while also considering future requirements and reliability. In addition, we support fair and equitable policies governing allocation of electric energy rates that ensure continued reliability while balancing the interest of consumers and Kansas businesses; and encourage public utilities, citizens, business, and government to invest in energy efficiency.